Terry Furchgott
A gifted painter and talented teacher, Terry Furchgott has been a working artist for the past thirty years, fifteen of them spent in Seattle represented by the Lisa Harris Gallery. Working primarily in acrylic and soft pastel, her paintings focus on the figure and are notable for their depth of color, strong, innovative compositions and exploration of the archetypal nature of human relationships. Furchgott received an honors degree in art history from Radcliffe College and studied classical drawing and painting at the Camden Arts Center, London. She brings a broad understanding of art history, seasoned practical experience, a continuing creative excitement and a questioning mind both to her creative process and to her work as a teacher.
Furchgott has been the recipient of Individual Artist Awards and Fellowships from the Washington State Arts Commission, the King County Arts Commission and Artist Trust. Along with her studio work she has also pursued a successful career in public art, completing large-scale commissions for the Seattle Center House, the Kent Regional Justice Center, the United States Post Office, the Regional Arts and Culture Council of Portland, the Fairbanks School District, Kelso High School and the Washington State Arts Commission among others. A community activist, Furchgott has used her talents as an artist to design and coordinate several key community projects including the Art to the People Project, a multidisciplinary arts celebration of Seattle's African Americans, the Southeast Asian Poster Project and the Garfield High School Mentoring Program.
Artist's Statement
I believe that each person is an artist and that every person has a seed of creativity within them. Often this creativity is hidden, just needing the right encouragement to come forth, but once found, it is always astonishing in its uniqueness and carries with it great joy and energy for that person. This is why I love to teach and it is what I look for in my students.
I see myself as a facilitator, helping students as they search for themselves, giving them a structure within which they can begin to discover their own personal vision of beauty and a means of expressing it in a material form.
In my classes, the beginning student learns the basics of drawing, tone, color and composition and experiments with different ways of combining these elements to create successful images. Intermediate and advanced students are taught at their individual level. I encourage advancing students both to develop their existing skills and to challenge themselves by exploring areas of technique and creativity new to them. I also strive to ensure that we do not forget to have fun while experiencing such primitive delights as playing with colors or the making of marks on paper and that we will all remember that "learner's mind is beginner's mind".
I believe that each person is an artist and that every person has a seed of creativity within them. Often this creativity is hidden, just needing the right encouragement to come forth, but once found, it is always astonishing in its uniqueness and carries with it great joy and energy for that person. This is why I love to teach and it is what I look for in my students.
I see myself as a facilitator, helping students as they search for themselves, giving them a structure within which they can begin to discover their own personal vision of beauty and a means of expressing it in a material form.
In my classes, the beginning student learns the basics of drawing, tone, color and composition and experiments with different ways of combining these elements to create successful images. Intermediate and advanced students are taught at their individual level. I encourage advancing students both to develop their existing skills and to challenge themselves by exploring areas of technique and creativity new to them. I also strive to ensure that we do not forget to have fun while experiencing such primitive delights as playing with colors or the making of marks on paper and that we will all remember that "learner's mind is beginner's mind".